Kodiak Island Births: Nov. 11Myer Reese Wattum was born at 4:18 a.m. on Oct. 31, to Jay William Wattum and Katie . Myer weighed 8 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long. Myer’s parents are originally from Kodiak and Belleville, Illinois, and now live in Kodiak. The baby’s mother and father are self-employed. Also welcoming Myer to the family is Andie Elizabeth Wattum. Grandparents are Barb and Joel Wattum from Palmer and Leslie and Dave Rak...

Borough begins meeting live streamThe Kodiak Island Borough tested the advantages of digital technology with a new video live stream at Thursday’s assembly meeting. It was a soft rollout, and there was a glitch. The stream lagged by about 30 seconds early in the meeting. Assembly member Carol Austerman, who had been watching the stream, observed near the end of the meeting that it lagged by two minutes. That might cause difficulties with people vi...

Alumni update: KHS stars collide in the poolA pair of Kodiak High School swimming stars collided in the pool Friday in Idaho. And for the second straight year it was Jori Lindquist’s Northern Arizona Wildcats topping Laura Griffing’s University of Idaho Vandals, 185-115. The two high school stars didn’t compete against each other in an individual, but they were pitted against each other in the 200-yard medley relay. Lindquist again came out on top, with her...

Kodiak swimmers make history at state meet Looking back, few people will remember that Dimond’s boys and Juneau’s girls were the top swimming teams in 2014. What they will remember is the unbelievable individual performances by Kodiak swimmers. Senior stars Tahna Lindquist and Ila Hughes and freshman sensation Talon Lindquist — Tahna’s younger brother — shredded the record book Saturday at the ASAA/First National Bank State Championship Swimming and Divin...

Kodiak nearly repeats as NLC championsKodiak came up just short of defending its Northern Lights Conference volleyball crown. The Bears fell behind Palmer early in the fifth set of Saturday’s championship match and were unable to recover, dropping a 18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 23-25, 15-10 decision to the Moose on their home court. This was Kodiak’s second runner-up finish in the past three years, and the third season in a row the Bears played in the NLC tit...

Borough assigns committees, honors Ouzinkie School studentThe Kodiak Island Borough Assembly approved fire and rescue mutual aid agreements and honored an Ouzinkie senior as student of the month. The assembly approved two mutual-aid agreements, specifying that the City of Kodiak and the borough’s Bayside Fire Station and Womens Bay Fire Station will help each other during emergencies. The borough also unanimously voiced no opposition to the transfer of Safeway’s two liqu...

Assembly approves new contract with lobbyistThe Kodiak Island Borough assembly unanimously approved a new two-year contract with its legislative lobbyist Thursday and, after considering inflationary adjustments, decided to increase his fee by $5,000 per year. Hickey and Associates has represented the borough for almost 14 years and the increase is warranted, according to borough manager Bud Cassidy. The borough’s current two-year contract with Hickey and As...

Alaska’s largest employer continues to add more jobs to its rosterCommercial fishing jobs grew last year to a level not seen since 2000, according to the state Department of Labor. Driven primarily by an increased salmon harvest, notably from the record run of pinks, fishing jobs grew by nearly 2.5 percent last year. That brought the annual monthly average to 8,400 jobs, just 400 shy of the record. Seafood harvesting and processing jobs are a focus of the November Alaska Economi...

Beans in your batter make breakfast better On a gray Sunday morning, I sauntered into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee. While stirring in some honey, I looked at the whitecaps in the channel and then focused on the window glass. It was textured with strips of moss and fat raindrops, deposited by 40-knot winds. This was going to be a slow breakfast morning. Time for waffles. But not just any waffles. I reached for a cookbook with a yellow spine, long ...